Star Search
by IvyJaylovescandy
Summary: A terrible illness has infected the clans. Warrriors are fallong quickly, and six cats are elected to return to the old terriroties to find the cure. The golden flower that blazes like a star.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was starting to set in the Riverclan camp, and the sky had been a clear and peaceful blue throughout the day. A gentle breeze flowed throughout the camp, and without a closer look it would seem all was peaceful.

Only a few cats were out of their dens. A pretty dark ginger she-cat was huddled next to anelderly tortoishell whispering furiously. The two seemed to be deep in a serious discussion. Farther away, near the camp entrance stood a lone battle-scarred she-cat, the sole guard of the camp, her single eye stared out into Riverclan's territory. She shuffled her paws with nervous agitation while she wore an impatient yet worried expression.

The warrior suddenly tasted the air, and urgently called out to the two cats, who quickly ended their whispering.

"Rosestar, they've returned!" She called as she turned her gaze eagerly towards the territory where three cats were returning from a patrol.

A large silver tom with a white muzzle carried in fish in his jaws. He kept his head held high, looking straight ahead while walking past the guard without even a nod. A golden-patched brown tabby walked beside him carrying a small mouse which she dropped in a very small prey-pile. Finally, the third cat, a long-legged apprentice with a cream pelt, came lagging behind the other two, his gaze fixed firmly on his front paws.

Rosestar quickly padded up the returning patrol, her eyes flashing with hope as she greeted the trio.

"Ripplestripe, how did the hunt go?" She asked, casting a wary glance towards the prey pile. Her heart tightened a bit seeing how small it was. As she watched the silver tom drop his fish in the pile, the apprentice passed by the Riverclan leader without a word. Without even a nod of greeting, he stalked into the apprentice's den, shame and despair deep in his eyes.

Rosestar watched him disappear, pity and doubt marked in her expression. The hunt hadn't gone too well. Ripplestripe faced his leader and swished his tail to gain her attention back to the rest of the patrol.

"He's upset that he didn't catch anything." Ripplestrioe explained, gesturing to where the apprentice had vanished.

"It's not his fault... Healthy prey has been hard to find." The darker tabby she-cat cut in, guilt pricking her pelt. "He... He just really wanted to catch something for Daisypaw..."

"Riverclan is lucky. It's affected the fish far less than other prey." A voice broke in from behind the trio. Rosestar looked back to see the elderly tortoishell had followed her.

Ferndapple, the Riverclan Medicean cat, sat a few paw steps away from the group, her tail curled around her paws. Before the pandemic, she was finally about to agree to retire to the elders, but now the clans needed as many Medicean cats as they could get their paws on.

Ripplestripe nodded at her comment. It was true, the fish were far less effected than other prey, despite the fact that they appeared to be hiding away from the disease. He was sure that despite how low they prey pile had been lately, Riverclan was much more fed than the other clans.

"True. I would hate to be Thunderclan right now." He muttered, glancing back towards the entrance of the camp while imagining the rival clan across the lake. "I heard that it has hit them the hardest."

The four cats fell silent after that comment. Though the five clans were all rivals, none of them took pleasure knowing that the other clans were struggling far more than Riverclan.

Rosestar looked hesitantly at Ferndapple. She swallowed as if gaining her nerve before speaking up again.

"Are you certain? Starclan hasn't sent _any_ signs about this illness?" She asked, her heart weighing like stone. She's asked time and time again today alone, but the elderly tortoishell's answer was always the same.

"Nothing. They have been silent since the first signs began appearing." Ferndapple murmured, hanging her head low. None of the clans could believe that their warrior ancestors would leave them with no answers to this illness. Not when so many cats were falling ill. Not when they were dying.

The illness had began a few moons ago. It began when a cat in Thunderclan had mysteriously fallen ill. The Thunderclan Medicean cat had never seen an illness like it, and despite trying with several different herbs, nothing would work.

Cats bellies would swell, cracks would appear on their bodies and bleed, sores also being common. It began effecting the prey as well, and any cat that ate the infected prey would come down with the mysterious illness as well. It wasn't long before the other clans began falling ill, and death wasn't far behind. An infected cat would spend days in agony before eventually dying.

The Medicean cats had done their best working together to try to find _some_ method that would cure it. They experimented and shared herbs, and had even journeyed to two-leg place to ask the kittypet for information out of desperation. Nothing worked, and no one had been reported to have had contact with Starclan since the outbrake. It felt like their ancestors had abandoned them all to die.

Now that a few moons had passed, the amount of healthy warriors had fallen. Rosestar had even heard reports that some cats were afraid to even exit their dens for fear of contracting the disease. The clans were losing hope, and if there was not a sign soon...

"Ferndapple, we're running out of moss." A small gray she-cat called, exiting the Medicean den. Laketail was the other Riverclan Medicean cat, and she wore a very tired expression. Her pelt was a mess and her eyes were dark and had the hunt of a glaze. She had hardly slept in days.

Ferndapple nodded quietly at her apprentice. She slowly stood up, her old bones creaking softly. "I understand... Rosestar, can you please send someone out to collect some?" She asked while walking towards the Medicean den without waiting for a reply. "I'll take over from hear Laketail, get some rest." She murmured quietly to her former apprentice as she passed her. Laketail hesitated for a moment before nodding half-heartedly and padding back within the Medicean den aswell.

Left alone, the three warriors gazed at each other, they're gazes darkened. Riverclan couldn't last much longer like this. Something needed to change, and soon.

"I'll go search for the moss. Ripplestripe, can you ask one of the other warriors to guard the camp? I'll take Birchscar with me." Rosestar mewed, nodding towards the heavily scarred warrior currently guarding the camp.

"Of course Rosestar." Ripplestripe said, dipping his silver head to his leader. Rosestar padded towards Birchscar, and after a few moments of discussing, the two made their way out of camp.


	2. Chapter 2

It was morning in Skyclan camp, and the warriors were surrounding the clearing, ready to be assigned to a patrol. Leafdrop, the clan deputy, stood in the center, sending a call for attention for the warriors. The clan's eyes gleamed with hunger and exhaustion, yet each held a fire of determination in their depths. Despite the illness that ravaged their clan, the Skyclan warriors were holding on, brave and hopeful. That is, except for a lone warrior, that cowered in the far reaches of the warrior's den, fearful and hidden.

Oakleap huddled in the farthest corner of the den. He had barely went outside in days, terror seizing his heart in a cold grip every time he left. He stared warrily at the entrance. The pale light of morning shining through the opening.

Voices were muttering outside the den. He prayed that they weren't discussing him. Patrols must be starting soon, but he hoped they would simply forget about him. Leafdrop had thrown an angry fit his second day of hiding, and now he was on his fifth.

Oakleap felt guilty about hiding away while his clanmates were working, but... He didn't want to die. He was scared, no, _terrified_. Cats were getting sick, and Bushfang wasn't healing them. Just the other day he had been speaking with Mistblaze, and she was perfectly fine... And then the next day... She wasn't... He had convinced himself that if he stayed put, maybe the disease wouldn't find him.

A shadow suddenly blocked the light from the entrance. Wait... Not a shadow, but a black furred cat. A black cat that was storming her way into the den. She stopped right infront of Oakleap and glared down at him, outrage gleaming in her eyes. Day five was not his lucky day.

"Oakleap," Ravenstar hissed, tail lashing as she stared down at her cowardly warrior, "now, I know you're not trying to skip out on your duties _again_ are you?" Oakleap flinched beneath her glare, his pelt spiked with fear and alarm.

"I-I-" He began to stammer, looking for something to say, but the Skyclan leader cut him off.

"Outside. Now." Ravenstar spat, cuffing him over the head with her paw. The gray tom scrabbled to his paws and tried to cower away from her, desperately searching for something to say. He couldn't leave... He couldn't!

"B-but the sickness!" He wailed, desperate for her to understand his fear, but Ravenstar was not having it. He looked back up to her face, and flinched at the dark expression she wore.

"The sickness should be the last thing you're scared of when facing me. I gave you an order. Act like a warrior or you'll be banished. Skyclan will not tolerate cowards." She hissed, hatred leaking out of every word.

Oakleap didn't need to be told a third time. He scrambled out of the den, the light blinding him momentarily. As his eyes adjusted, he saw the other warriors watching him with narrowed eyes. He'd made them all work harder to make up for his slack the past few days, so it was clear that they were unhappy with him.

He trembled slightly, and slowly made his way to where the others were gathered, sitting himself a little distance away from them. Ravenstar exited the warrior's den, and sent him one last glare before making her way to the Medicean den. Ravenstar had been helping Bushfang recently now that the Medicean cat was becoming overworked.

Leafdrop sent him a smirk before beginning to assign the patrols. Oakleap could aware that the deputy was always after him.

"Finally deciding to be of use to your clan I see." He sneered, contempt in his mew. The tabby tom had no patience or pity for those who would hide away rather than protect their clan. He dispised cowards.

Oakleap bowed his head in shame, daring not to meet the gazes of his clanmates. He knew that he'd caused them trouble, but why didn't they understand? Weren't they scared too?

"You'll join Sunfox and Cloudfluff. Search for herbs and moss to replenish the Medicean den. Pull your weight for once." The tabby ordered, turning away to pad towards a small group of warriors. No doubt a patrol that he was leading himself. Oakleap could see the rest of the warriors leaving camp...probably the hunting party. Since it was becoming difficult to find prey, most of the warriors were being assigned to hunt for the entire day recently.

He snapped back to attention when he noticed two warriors walking over to greet him. Sunfox gave him a pitying smile, while Cloudfluff would barely look at him. She huffed and stalked towards the entrance, flicking her tail to summon the others to follow.

Sunfox was a younger warrior, barely out of apprenticeship when the illness started. His name truly matched his pelt, which was deep ginger color. The illness had certainly made the young tom mature quickly, Oakleap noted as he followed the two warriors out of the camp. When apprenticed, Sunpaw was known to be impulsive, reckless and to constantly throw himself into fights. Now, he acted more like a senior warrior, patient, calm and... Tired...

Cloudfluff on the other paw had barely changed since the pandemic started. The long-furred white queen had always been a bit moody and strict. Despite having decided to serve the clan by taking care of the kits, she now had to fulfill the duties she had trained to do.

"Let's split up." Cloudfluff spoke up, causing the other warriors to stop in their tracks, as she turned to face them. She surveyed the area for a few moments, deep in thought. "We'll find a wider variety if we search different places. Sunfox, search the territory around the Thunderclan border. I'll search around the Shadowclan border, and Oakleap will take the area by the lake. If any of us find more than we can carry in our third of the territory, then we get the others to regroup, understand?"

Sunfox dipped his head in acknowledgement and preceded to make his way towards the territory by the Thunderclan border. Oakleap watched his dark ginger pelt disappear in the bushes ahead of them. He turned back towards Cloudfluff, but she was already farther ahead, towards the other border.

With no other choice, Oakleap slowly made his way towards the lake. His pelt was still spiked with fear, and he kept gazing around warily. He investigated the terriory, looking around at the plants he could find. After a while, he realized he actually didn't know what many of the herbs looked like, or which the clan even needed. It was probably something that the clan was informed about while he had been hiding away from the illness outside.

He began feeling a wave of hopelessness. _I can't even do this right, can I?_ He thought, wallowing in self pity. His paws touched water, and he leapt backwards, realizing that he had reached the lake. Oakleap gazed over the waters. He could just make out the other side. Skyclan shared no borders with Windclan or Riverclan, and he vaguely wondered for a moment which territory he was looking at.

Oakleap shook his head slightly, turning away from the lake. He couldn't get distracted, he had to find _something_ to bring back. He had no time for his mind drifting off. Besides, what if he caught the sickness while sitting around here.

He hurriedly resumed his search. _Moss. I know what moss is. I can collect that. _He decided, reassuring himself that he could do something to help.

**Author note: Hi! Thank you for reading! This chapter introduced one of my favorite characters, Oakleap. I tried to properly portray his cowardice and how it negatively effects his clan. Out of the main characters, he has the most growing to do. All of them have some lesson or maturing they need to experience on their journey to overcome a personal problem, and guess what his is going to be.**


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